NDFlyer

Ruffian is correct about the debbies. Other than the 6-7 people who actually know them and like them nobody else cares what happens to the debs. Ya see, debbies fans are the illegtimate offspring of Islanders fans who are nothing more than disgruntled Rangers fans---of which there are about 6-7 million the past seven years. The East is totally up for grabs; as even as it has ever been. It's gonna be extremely difficult getting by Detroit in the West.

There is zero chance Parise plays in this year's playoffs. He did not play in any of the three regular season games left on the schedule. You have the defending champs. Burns already has his lines set. Big series with a division rival. NJD has a ton of centers, although only Gomez can be considered a serious playmaker the others are mainly grinders and checkers. I do not doubt that Parise has more talent than Brylin, Larionov, Rasmussen, Kozlov, et al, but these guys have been playing all season. I seriously doubt that a team such as NJD would take a chance on a new guy who has never played in the NHL, does not know the system, does not know his teammates and has not yet had the opportunity to develop chemistry with linemates. Whether or not it could work out is a different question from whether or not Burns will take the chance to see if it will work out. I don't see him doing it.

Shep, Speaking of college hockey players and classes..........you wanna tell them your Darren Jensen story? Statute of limitations has probably expired by now.

How does he go from a +33 one season to a -15 the next? Tri City decide not to use a goalie that season?

DAR is correct. The truly great ones produce when needed the most....ya know, as in the playoffs or a regional torunament.

Marty, Who is your favorite NHL team?

Well, then, Fedor, please let me know which of my hockey posts was incorrect. You college boys are truly a thin skinned lot.

Does this mean you guys don't like me?

jloos, I am 43 years old and in the unlikely event that you would notice, I do NOT have as an avatar a cartoon pic. Do you disagree with my assessment of the fight? Unlike the majority of the posters here I watched the game. I notice that you had to go to a website to discover who won or lost the fight. Go back to watching women's hockey.

North Star, How difficult is it to find a discussion board? I see a TON of bandwagon stuff going on around here.

I saw the fight, if it can be called a fight, between Garth Murray and David Hale. Didn't last more than about 5 seconds. Couple punches thrown. No damage done. I'm sure some around here, though, would have Murray and Hale suspended for half the season for such disgraceful actions. It could have ruined the game, the league and the sport. We're lucky that it survived.

Cool discussion board? Ha! How many people are on it? 7 or 8? The entrie debbie fan base?

PCM, I am flat out saying that retaliation in the form of fighting IS necessary to deter cheap shots. Just because you object to this does not mean that what I am saying is false. You can have all the rules in the world but, as you have just suggested, there are times when a player loses it. I am saying that the player might think twice about losing it if hre knows he is gong to have to fight someone. Wouldn't you?

Let's see, some of you are willing to accept the reality of cheap shots.....AS LONG AS THERE IS NO FIGHTING!!! No. We can't have that now, can we? God Forbid! Your children see more violence at school, on tv and on their little video games they play 20 hours per day then they will ever see at an NHL game.

PCM, Merely because you personally do not like something does not necessarily make it untrue.

How can you NOT like Joe Kocur? Dude did everything you asked of him!

dagies, You don't think defenses would adapt and evolve if the NHL game were played on bigger ice? I don't see bigger ice in the NHL resulting in a significant increase in goals scored or even chances. The nets are still the same size. The goalies are getting bigger and better...........not to mention the size of their equipment.

Gotta figure a guy whose favorite team has Joe Kocur as an asstistant would be on board with this!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are totally correct.

Please explain why fighting is the equivalent of a cheap shot....especially when 99.99% of the time both men consent and are able to handle themselves? You'd rather see an open ice hit on a guy with his head down and who suffers a concussion? These "clean hits' cause more injuries than fighting. Just ask Keith Primeau, Marcus Naslund or Eric LIndros.

Mafia Man, Nt sure why you bring up the Bertuzzi incident. What Bertuzzi did was a cheap shot just as any stick swinging incident or a hard check from behind. Eliminating fighting would not have prevented Beretuzzi from going after Steve Moore. Going after Steve Moore immediately AFTER he took out Marcus Naslund would have done much more to prevent it than allowing it to brew for several weeks and then explode during a rout. Moore didn't have to go after Naslund in the middle of the ice, but he did. Just becasue there was no penalty called hardly means it was a clean hit.

So, has all the video watching in the NFL and college hockey ELIMINATED cheap shots? If the answer is no, then obviously it has not worked.

Ah, but you make many assumptions, DaveK. What if the refs MISS the spear or high stick? What if the player continues to do it and the league does nothing about it?

For those of you who object to fighting and hitting I might suggest women's hockey. I'm sure you'll have no problem obtaining a ticket or a seat.

Dave, The NHL was a much cleaner game before the instigator rule came into effect. By "clean" I mean there were a lot less high sticks, elbows and checks from behind into the boards.

DaveK, So you score a goal or 2 on a major pp. Under your scenario the cheap shotter gets to return to the ice. What happens if your player was a victim of the cheapshotter and is done for the season? If the cheapshotter had to fight every time he cheapshotted a guy he would not do it.